Every day, the morning of Europe 1 looks back on one of the sporting events that make the news.
This Wednesday, Virginie Phulpin evokes the project of European Super League of football which died in the bud.
If this is a victory for football, it does not sign the end of football business.
This is the sports editorial of Virginie Phulpin. The Football Super League will not see the light of day, at least not now. The clubs withdrew from the project one after the other in the face of the hostility unleashed. For you, it's a football victory, but beware, a very short-term victory.
There are happy coincidences in life. Rumilly Vallières players have chosen their moment of glory well. The amateur club qualified for the semi-finals of the Coupe de France yesterday by beating Toulouse 2-0. And above all by recalling that what makes football the salt is uncertainty and the right to dream. As Johan Cruyff said, "why can't we beat a richer club? I've never seen a bag of tickets score a goal". It would make a great epitaph for the Super League, which will therefore only have lived for 48 hours, setting the world of football in turmoil and much beyond.
It's been so many years that the big clubs have seen the authorities give in to their whims, so many years that the mercantile drifts are accepted without flinching that the 12 secessionists have ended up forgetting that the ball was not their property, and that football was not a business like any other.
Fans, players and even politicians have proven to them in the last few hours by mobilizing to ensure that their sport is not confiscated by a financial elite.
They would never have imagined such a wave of indignation.
The defeat of these powerful disconnected from reality is stinging, and if we can rejoice in one thing in these troubled times, it is to see football being debated and its players engaging with force.
The failure of the Super League does not mean that it is the end of football business
It's anything but the return of romanticism. Especially when you see the reply that UEFA is preparing. According to
Bloomberg
information
, the European body is working with an investment fund to explode the budget of the Champions League and satisfy the big clubs. Between that and the reform of the competition format which can be likened to a more or less closed league which would not speak its name, the party may be short-lived for those who are delighted to have brought down the Super League. There are some hangovers brewing.
If it is to see the arrival of a UEFA-stamped Super League, the defeated yesterday will be the winners of tomorrow. But at least there is a debate, the authorities can also realize now that you cannot confiscate football and rearrange it as you wish without there being a reaction. Yes, football is alive, but we will have to watch it like milk on fire. You should always be wary of return matches.